Question
Foreign Affairs > Asia > South Korea
Reinforce economic and security cooperation with South Korea
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Background
South Korea-United States relations have been most extensive since 1948, when the United States helped establish South Korea and fought on its UN-sponsored side in the Korean War (1950–1953). During the subsequent four decades, South Korea experienced tremendous economic, political and military growth, and reduced US dependency. Since the late 1980s, the country has instead sought to establish an American partnership, which has made the Seoul-Washington relationship subject to some strains.
In late 1980s, the United States was South Korea's largest and most important trading partner. South Korea was the seventh-largest market for US goods and the second-largest market for its agricultural products. A Korean trade surplus represented the evolving imbalance between the countries. Although Seoul gave in to Washington's demands to avoid being designated as a priority foreign country (PFC), economic policymakers in Seoul resented this unilateral threat. They also feared that the PFC designation would fuel anti-Americanism throughout South Korea. The two nations began negotiations on a U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement in 2006 and reached an agreement in April 2007.
Diplomats in both countries maintained that US forces should remain in South Korea as long as Seoul wanted them. Not only did, at its highest, 94 percent of South Koreans support the presence of the forces, but even the vocal opposition parties favored a continued US military presence in South Korea. Stability in the peninsula, they argued, had been maintained because strong Seoul-Washington military cooperation deterred further aggression. Other policymakers felt that American troops should gradually be leaving the country. They argued that South Korea in the late 1980s was more capable of coping with North Korea which has a far smaller economy. In Washington, meanwhile, an increasing number of United States politicians advocated troop withdrawal for budgetary reasons. The consultations on restructuring the Washington-Seoul security relationship held during Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney's February 1990 visit to South Korea marked the beginning of the change in status of US forces - from a leading to a supporting role in the country's defense.
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In late 1980s, the United States was South Korea's largest and most important trading partner. South Korea was the seventh-largest market for US goods and the second-largest market for its agricultural products. A Korean trade surplus represented the evolving imbalance between the countries. Although Seoul gave in to Washington's demands to avoid being designated as a priority foreign country (PFC), economic policymakers in Seoul resented this unilateral threat. They also feared that the PFC designation would fuel anti-Americanism throughout South Korea. The two nations began negotiations on a U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement in 2006 and reached an agreement in April 2007.
Diplomats in both countries maintained that US forces should remain in South Korea as long as Seoul wanted them. Not only did, at its highest, 94 percent of South Koreans support the presence of the forces, but even the vocal opposition parties favored a continued US military presence in South Korea. Stability in the peninsula, they argued, had been maintained because strong Seoul-Washington military cooperation deterred further aggression. Other policymakers felt that American troops should gradually be leaving the country. They argued that South Korea in the late 1980s was more capable of coping with North Korea which has a far smaller economy. In Washington, meanwhile, an increasing number of United States politicians advocated troop withdrawal for budgetary reasons. The consultations on restructuring the Washington-Seoul security relationship held during Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney's February 1990 visit to South Korea marked the beginning of the change in status of US forces - from a leading to a supporting role in the country's defense.
see more on Wikipedia
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